


Almost Home

by f_romanoff_13



Series: Family [11]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Baby, Family, Fear, Gen, Loss, Love, Medical Trauma, Parents, Pregnancy, friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-10
Updated: 2013-11-10
Packaged: 2018-01-01 00:26:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1038170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/f_romanoff_13/pseuds/f_romanoff_13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha and Clint have a baby, but nothing is ever that straight forward. A medical emergency causes Clint to face his biggest fear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Almost Home

**Author's Note:**

> Un Beta-ed  
> All mistakes are my own - apologies!  
> All Characters belong to Marvel (apart from the OCs)
> 
> **This fic tells the story of Evie's birth**

Clint was stood by Natasha’s bedside cradling his tiny baby.  
She still didn’t have a name; they’d been unable to decide and she was known as 'Baby Barton' at the moment. It’d been something the two had discussed, and argued about, a lot in the past few months. Natasha wanted ‘Evelyn’, Clint wanted ‘Adelaide’. Natasha wanted to give her a Russian middle name, Clint wanted to use Natasha as her middle name. They’d been no closer to choosing a boy’s name either and the day had taken them both by surprise.

Tony, Steve, Bruce, Thor and Pepper all crowded into the tiny room; Clint and Natasha had had a baby three hours previously and they were finally allowed to come and visit. They took turns holding the baby, amazed at how tiny and perfect she was. She looked exactly like Natasha. 

“You sure she’s yours?” Tony joked to Clint. Natasha, unable to hit him glared, Pepper hit him round the head instead.

The baby was passed back to her father once more and fell asleep promptly in his arms. 

Pepper was in the middle of discussing Tony’s latest idiocies with Natasha when the panic in her voice made Clint tear his gaze away from his daughter.  
Machines were suddenly blaring and Natasha had become unresponsive, pale and limp. Medical personnel rushed into the room, alerted by the sounds of the machines.  
Only Pepper’s comforting hand placed on his arm reminded Clint that he held his child in his arms. He carefully passed the child to Pepper and rushed to his wife’s side. He gripped her hand and whispered into her ear; begging and pleading with her to be okay.

The rest of the team left the room as more medical staff arrived; bringing with them various pieces of equipment, tubes, medications and bloods. It wasn’t long before Clint too was ushered from the room in order for the medical staff to do their job.

They all stood around in silence, no one knowing quite what to say to comfort their friend. The baby started crying from Pepper’s arms; Clint looked up with wet eyes and went to take back his daughter. The cries soon subsided but holding his daughter made Clint’s heart ache. His wife was on the other side of the door fighting for her life, and his daughter, their daughter, _her_ daughter looked so much like her.

Coulson soon arrived, and so did Hill. Jane and Darcy arrived later, but there was still no update on Natasha.  
All they’d been told was that she’d had what they suspected was an amniotic fluid embolism; she’d seemed fine, felt fine and then suddenly collapsed. Her blood pressure had plummeted and her heart rhythm had become irregular, breathing had slowed and then stopped and she’d had to be intubated. She’d soon fallen into a coma.  
The medical staff had warned Clint of the potential complications of an AFE; they’d also told him she was unlikely to ever recover.  
But they didn’t know Natasha, he had to believe that she’d pull through.

Clint was beside himself with worry; he paced the corridors or sat by her side, never letting his daughter leave his arms. He was terrified and furious and distraught at the same time. 

 

It had been three days and Clint still hadn’t slept. The others took it in turns to sit outside Natasha’s room; incase Clint ever needed someone to talk to, someone he trusted to hold the baby so he could sleep or eat, but he never did. 

 

After five days medical staff insisted the baby be taken home, she needed to settle in, get into a routine, and get away from the potential infections carried by staying in a medical facility. Clint felt stuck, he couldn’t leave Natasha, but he needed to look after his daughter; that was his job. 

 

“Have you got a name yet?” the nurse asked, filling out the discharge paperwork

“Evelyn Irina Barton” Clint answered; he knew Natasha would win eventually.

 

Back at the tower Clint finally relinquished his hold on Evelyn so he could take a shower. While Darcy fed the baby Tony offered some words of wisdom to his friend.

“Hey Clint”

“Oh, hey Tony”

“I just wanted to talk to you, if that’s okay?”

“You don’t normally ask”

“You don’t usually mind”

Clint tried to busy himself in order to avoid the conversation he was sure would follow. Tony would offer his support; guarantee him everything would be okay, that everyone was there for him and Evie.  
Clint knew all that.  
Clint wasn’t worried about being alone, he was terrified of not being with Natasha. When they’d first met the two assassins had been enemies, but he’d seen something in her that no one else had bothered to see, and he’d offered her a chance. Slowly, together, they’d learnt to trust, they’d found hope and eventually learned to love. They’d fixed each other, and somebody like that is someone you can never replace. 

Tony still spoke on but Clint didn’t hear the words.

Tony’s phone rang, interrupting his dialogue. Answering it; he handed it to Clint

“It’s for you”

Clint looked at the phone, confused, before realising his own phone was probably dead.

“Hello?”

It was Coulson;  
“Clint, she’s awake”


End file.
